Looking for a diverse travel adventure,
well this is it. Where else in the world do you find penguins and
flamingos on the same island?
Explore
Ecuador, a magical country Ecuador! Ecuador is a unique mix of rainforest,
Andean Mountains, plains and the most extraordinary islands built
by volcanoes with distinct personalities. Our first few days were
spent visiting the countryside surrounding Quito with stops for photography,
especially the monument advertising we were standing on the equator.
The first day we spent time in the town of Otavalo which boasts a
wonderful market, more than a few good buys were found. The crafts
are so incredible and very affordable. Next, south to Cotopaxi, a
volcano that showed us inspiring beauty. It literally took our breath
away! The parking lot is over 4500m elevation so moving around and
photographing was a bit of an effort.
Part of the magic of travel is the different ways of getting to a
destination – our visit to Sacha Lodge was no exception. We flew
over the Andes, caught a motorized boat for the trip down the Napo
River, walked through the forest and then canoed in small hand carved
dugouts to a remote and lovely lodge. Here we spent the next few days
exploring with our very knowledgeable guides Malcolm and Adelmo. 
The
rainforest is truly enchanting with the lush sights and sounds of
birds, monkeys and insects. Our first night was a wonderful experience
as we silently canoed through a mangrove and palm tree choked creek,
listening to the night sounds and catching glimpses of the occasional
night visitor. That same creek trip in the afternoon a few days later
netted a fabulous experience of three different Red Howler Monkey
troops, all wonderfully loud! The first troop had an inquisitive lead
male inspecting us and let us catch a glimpse of a mom with baby clutched
to her stomach. The final troop was spectacular, crashing and screaming
through the trees overhead, traveling with ease through the canopy.
The last final glimpse was of the large dominant male moving with
such confidence that showed his status!
We also had the delight of seeing a number of different birds that
included the rare Agami Heron, Mealy and Blue HeadedParrots, Hoatzin,
Smooth-billed Ani, Silvered Antbird, Bat Falcon, Egrets, Striated
Heron and the very interesting Lawrence’s Thrush which does a
remarkable imitation of other bird songs. Amazingly, our guide could
distinguish each call and bird it really belonged to! From the top
of the tree tower we looked out over the canopy and had a wonderful
view of the Many-banded Aracari, a member of the Toucan family. Our
guides pointed out interesting insects, a lovely large toad almost
invisible due to its camouflage, caimans and reptiles. As well, we
saw many plants and learned about their medicinal uses; a number which
remedy a sick tummy. It was fascinating to learn how the local people
depended upon the forest for everything, as our guide said, "
this is our pharmacy".
It was difficult leaving such a lovely tranquil place but we were
eager to see what the Galapagos Islands would reveal. The first stop
at North Seymour Island had us within the first steps on the island
snapping photos of Sally light-foot crabs, sea lions and iguanas.
When we finally moved along we were in awe of the Magnificent Frigatebird
colony where we watched the females feeding their young and the males
soaring overhead showing off their red throat sack trying to impress
the females. We snorkeled daily and were treated to a beautiful show
of fish, sea urchins, turtles, rays and white tipped sharks. My favorite
swim was with the sea lions that would frolic about, swim straight
up to your mask, take a good look and then abruptly scoot away. This
snorkeling time also allowed us to view some interesting behaviors
between them. They would nip each other and grab the others fins as
they tussled in the water. It was enthralling! How I wished I could
twist and turn in the water as they did.
The
landscape of these islands is truly out of this world. Each island
was formed from volcanoes at different times in history so the ground
was everything from soft green or black sand to hard ropy lava and
acres of barren lava flows. One island was formed as recent as 100
years ago. The marine and land iguanas amazed me - every one of them
became an individual and presented a unique photo opportunity. The
sea lions also joined us with very little shyness. On one island landing,
we found a very handsome male sea lion guarding his harem. He roared
at us as our panga (zodiac) approached. We backed off a few times
until our guides managed to persuade him back into the water with
a lot of hand clapping. He definitely had my respect!
A visit to the Darwin Research Centre in Puerto Ayora where Carol
presented a donation to support ongoing research that will protect
the islands and the giant tortoises. We spent some time with Lonesome
George, the one remaining Pinta Island tortoise – a handsome
guy without a mate that is unfortunately very close to extinction.
Each day was a different island that was always fun and informative.
A treasure of memories! And one last memory . . . our favorite, patient
driver in Quito, Luciano, stopping – PARE – for just one
more photo or market to shop in!
Join Carol to visit (& shop) GALAPAGOS ISLANDS in March 2003.
See departures for
details